Coming Soon!! The Goings On...

Sorry for the delay in getting a new post going.  I am in the middle of writing a post but now must get back to studying and I am SUPER tired.  I got up early (5:20) and went skiing today, which is a double whammy for trying to sit still and write down thoughts.  Mindlessly learning German Vocabulary words via flash-cards takes a bit less mental energy.  Over the last few days I have made about 400+ more so I have some work to do.  

But, on deck for you shortly will be the following...

Update on Kristin - This will be short and too the point because thinking about or discussing this topic is like a blow torch in my brain.  

Skiing - Oh how spoiled I have become.  I will never again be able to ski again in Michigan.  It is hopeless!  I will give some detail about the skiing I have done in the Austrian Alps these past two weekends.  

OMG!!! - For only the second time on this trip I have seen a German show some deep down emotion at work.  This guy was really pissed off!  And I must say, that it really brought a smile to my face to see it.  

So please stay tuned and I will provide details shortly!  I hope everyone is having a good weekend and that winter is manageable. 

Okay…Well today is Friday and it looks like I will be able to keep my promise and finish this post.  As I mentioned yesterday, I’m going skiing tomorrow so I am using that as an excuse to not go to the gym tonight so I can go to bed early and finish writing this.  So let’s get to it!

 

Departure

 

The original plan was for Kristin and I to return to Germany together on the 3^rd of January.   Because of some unforeseen circumstances (more to come) our plan had to be abandoned and I had to fly by myself to Friedrichshafen.  Kristin’s trip back was set for the tomorrow, the 17^th of January.  The biggest problem is that the date of the 17^th was by no means a fixed date.  It was a date that we both were counting on and one that we thought would be reasonable based on what we knew of the circumstances, but nonetheless, not carved in stone.  So on our way to the airport we were both pretty quiet.  Much of the day leading up to that point was doing a lot of hustling around and running errands, which is pretty much they way you spend any day before an international flight.  So we did not really exchange too much dialog on the way there because I think it was pretty well understood what we were both thinking and it wasn’t going to do much good to air it out.  When we got there Kristin was pretty teary eyed, but in her usual strong way.  It was a very difficult goodbye because the reality is that there was no fixed time for our reunion.  I think any amount of time away from a spouse can be difficult on some level, but when there is the variable of the unknown reunion, that really takes it to a very different place.  The mind is very good at coping with things, any things, in which you know or are reasonably assured the final outcome.  As long as you can see the finish line, you can almost always run, walk, or crawl to the end.  But when you don’t know when and where the finish is, it becomes a very different task – magnitudes different.  Think about it, our founding fathers guaranteed us rights to speedy trials.   We consider undefined indefinite prison sentences inhumane.  When you are waiting for something, knowing how long is just as important as how long it actually is.  I am not trying to compare indefinite prison sentences to saying goodbye to Kristin, just that the unknown will put a much heavier burden on one’s heart and mind.  I give credit to those families where one is serving in the Armed Forces.   Because you add the absence, the unknown, and the knowledge of possible harm, and that cannot be a good combination to help someone sleep at night!

So, back to Kristin and I… We said our goodbyes and as I was standing in the check in line watching her drive off in the Jeep and felt… loss.  Of course every day without her here is less enjoyable than if she was with me.  But at the same time, the fact that I feel that way, reassures me that things will be okay and that the time and distance will not diminish our affection.  

 

Trip Back to Friedrichshafen

 

Okay.  I am one of those people who have been sold on Mac computers.  Sure they are more expensive than a PC, but they are really fast, really good quality, and are never effected by those pesky Internet viruses and pop up windows.  I tell you, the day you read of a crazy computer virus and not have to worry about updating your Norton anti-virus software on your PC is a day that you will be glad to have a MAC.  I was pretty much sold after getting Kristin her iPhone.  From there it’s been pretty much down hill for me.  I am at the point now where I would probably give Steve Jobs (the CEO and creative inspiration for Apple) one of my kidneys if need be.  Why does this matter you ask?  One word…Zoll.  Zoll is the name for customs in the German-speaking world.  You fly into Switzerland, Austria, or Germany and these will be the people who check your passports, and in this case any merchandise you do or should declare.  Now here was my fear, my doomsday scenario if you will.  I bought a lot more cool Apple stuff over the holidays.  It makes sense because the exchange rate is like 1.35:1.  So it makes no sense to spend the money here in Europe because the cost is the same, just in Euros.  So something that costs $100 back home will cost you a cool $135 here.  Here is the catch.  You can only come back into Europe with about $600 of goodies before you have to pay Value Added Tax (VAT) tax.  It is a 15% to 18% tax on all goods.  I certainly had more than $600 in goodies.  What’s worse is that Switzerland is not part of the EU.  So I would in fact need to go through two sets of Zoll getting to my apartment.  Think about that.   You could be forced to pay 15% to 18% twice; possibly exceeding the cost of the stuff had you just bought it in Europe.  This is the doomsday scenario.  This was on my mind the entire flight.  I don’t think I should have to pay because I am not going to keep the stuff in Germany.  When I leave, it’s all coming with me.  They may not see it that way.  Zoll may say you’re living in Europe so it’s staying long enough.  Pay up! 

So I get to baggage claim and I know the big problem is that one bag was not a bag at all but a box containing my new monitor wrapped in paper.  This will draw some attention because it is clearly not a piece of conventional luggage.  I must wait until a big group of people head to the Zoll gate and then I will get into the middle of them, blend in (just like the chameleon that can be), and no one will ask any questions – on through Switzerland and onto the next challenge…Germany.  But time passes and one big group all gets their luggage and heads away.  Where the hell is my stuff?!  If they all leave before me and I have to walk through Zoll alone I am screwed for sure.  Okay sweet, there it is…my last bag.  Hurry up!  Another big group is heading over.  Crap!  You have to catch up or you will be walking through Zoll alone and on to the certain separation of you and your Swiss Francs!  Okay sweet!  I am now in the middle of them, a good solid group of normal looking Europeans.  This is where I put on my Jason Bourne persona and act all cool…nothing special about me…other than this huge box I am carrying wrapped in paper about the size of a 24” television.  I get right where I want to be.  Right in the middle of a nice group of 5 or 6 people with luggage galore.  My wallet’s safety is soooo close I can taste it!  CRAP!!!  They are looking at another guy’s package all wrapped in paper – just like mine.  Don’t think about that you idiot!  Keep your cool.  How would Jason Bourne handle this!?  10 feet from the door, 8 feet, 5 feet…

 

“AALLOOO?!”

Maybe they are talking to someone else, keep moving.  3 feet. 

“AAALLLLLOOOOO??!!” 

Crap!!  Don’t look panicked and just turn your head slowly…

I look over and there is no denying they are talking to me.  I break from my cover of returning Europeans with excess luggage and coolly walk to the counter.

“Sprechen Sie Deutsch?”

“Et was.  Aber minen English ist besser.”

“Vat are you carrying here in zis package?” 

“This is a monitor for my laptop.”

“And vat is dee walue?”

Think fast!  What is the maximum limit you can bring into customs…you know this you read it in Amsterdam…$600!  Put in some safety!

“It’s worth about $500.”

“Sank you wery much.”

“Thank you.” 

…Thank you for not searching my bags and forcing me to pay 15% on my Macbook laptop, Apple monitor, back up hard drive/wireless modem, wireless keyboard, and wireless mouse…the latter 4 all in their original packaging.  See what I mean about the kidney??

 

Steve Jobs…Organ donation…I was not kidding. =)

 

So I have one border down and one more to go.  The normal route from Zurich to FN is via train to Romanshorn and then ferry to FN.  There is always Zoll in FN to greet you when you get off the boat.  But as I purchase my ticket to FN they tell me that the ferry is not running this late and that I must take 4 different trains around the lake from Zurich to FN.  This little diversion added an additional 2.5 hours to my trip.  The good news was that there was no border going via train.  So once I heard that the next stop was Konstanz (in Germany) I knew I was safe.  So even though it took me longer, there was less stress of getting nabbed by German Zoll.  All told the trip took me 18 hours and since I can’t sleep on planes, I was awake for a grand total of 31 hours from Saturday to Sunday.  But I made it and was looking forward to moving to the new apartment the next day…

 

The New Digs

 

You know when you travel to see someone and they say “hey, don’t rent a car.  We have an extra one you can use.”  Then you get there and you see that the car your are borrowing is actually a beat to shit ’93 Toyota Corolla that is rusted, has three different brands of tires, has no air conditioning, and the radio is stolen.  That is kind of what our first apartment was like.  The landlord and his wife were really great and it was a roof over our head.  But the month without a kitchen and the constant noise from above subtracted from what was at best an average furnished apartment.  I will assume if you read this blog that you are completely familiar with the old apartment enough for me to spare you my thoughts. 

In other words, let us focus on the present…the beautiful beautiful present…

The new place is in a word, friendly.  It is very bright with all the windows running nearly floor to ceiling.  The kitchen is large, not by US standards but certainly by German.  The furniture is modern and very tasteful and goes with the rest of décor.   This place was not put together by someone only looking to get by with the cheapest stuff possible.  On the contrary, the owner works very hard on this house and puts very expensive and quality furniture and appliances into it.  And he is not shy about saying so!  If he introduces you to something in the apartment he will point out where it was made, why he selected it, and what makes it a quality piece.  An eye for quality and detail with equal parts dislike for Chinese made merchandise and women who wear too much makeup.  My landlord Klaus and I, we are kindred souls. =)  He was also kind enough to give us our own room in the basement  and to set up extra shelves and two extra wardrobes for Kristin to put all her excess clothing – A fact that only Kristin calls fiction.  It took about half a dozen back and forth trips to collect the rest of our stuff (mostly clothes) from the old apartment and get them here to the new.  Now the only thing that is left is to inform City Hall that we have a new address.  Hey, have you heard that Kristin and I have been talking to those people???

 

Kristin’s Visa

 

Okay, a little recap.  There is a law in Germany which states that an owner of a US passport may stay in Germany for 90 days (in 180) on a tourist visa.  So, as a US citizen, if you come here, you basically can stay here legally for 90 days.  If you intend on staying longer, you must apply for a residency permit.  This permit must be submitted before the 90 days is up.  Kristin and I did not do this.  And so we had to go to extra, almost extraordinary lengths to get this matter resolved without her having to wait 90 days.  Indeed, even today, it is not certain if that 90 days out of Germany won’t become a reality.  For reasons as to why this is, check IMHO. =)

Like the apartment, I will assume that if you read this blog you are familiar with the details of what happened and what we had to do.  But in a nut shell the person who shall remain unnamed, for whom I have no polite word for, for whom if I ever see in my home town will forever remember my name, did not want to make a decision so he put the decision making on to the German Consulate in Chicago.  Chicago, God bless them, acted, and basically had Kristin fill out another residency permit and then inputted Kristin’s residency permit into the German immigration system right away and provided us with a case number.  So now all the unnamed must do is pull the info up on his computer approve that it is okay for Kristin to come into the country and then Kristin can have an entry visa into Germany.  So this week I have MTU call over to the unnamed to inquire into the status.  The answer?  We have not yet received the paperwork via courier and have not yet acted on this case.  So basically we have all this modern technology that works a light speed and this “person” is saying that he is waiting for the paper to come in.  Mind you, there is nothing that needs to be done here other than say yes or no.  This “person” does not have to finish the residency permit.  Kristin is allowed to come into the country with a visa while the permit is being finished.  Why this is happening I will leave for you to guess what the motive/intention is.  I have this comment…

The problem with the city hall here in Friedrichshafen is not that they follow the rules, or that they are separating families (there was actually an article in the Monday paper complaining about that very topic with respect to the FN city hall).  The problem is that they act without compassion, without respect, and without manners.  I submit to you that 99% of mankind’s misery is caused by people not treating other people with compassion, respect, and with manners.   Kristin and I broke German law and I can accept the consequences of that as long as you do it with those three elements intact.  Those that act without these three elements are what I believe we simply call acting on a “power trip”.  These people are very small.  They do not see enough of the world around them to understand that when you treat people, anyone, without compassion, respect, and manners that it does not stop on the person acted upon.  You put into motion negative energy that will one day come back to you.  People err by thinking that their treatment of other people can be so focused that it will only affect the one they are engaging.  This is not the case at all.  No.  Your behavior will in effect be reflected back at you.  It might not be instantaneous, but it will happen.  And when it does happen for this unnamed person here in Germany, the only one he can blame is the one staring at him in the mirror.  And for my part, I will feel no sympathy.

 

Life Sans Kristin

 

This is pretty simple.  I miss Kristin.  I don’t know if you have seen the movie Marley and Me, but it is based on a dog that lives through a transitional period in the lives of his two owners.  The transitional period is where they are out of school get jobs and start a family.  You know, that small change in life… that place on the map that me and most of my friends are on.  Well Kristin to me is kind of like Marley.  NO, NOT THAT SHE IS LIKE A DOG!  It ‘s not that she doesn’t always make the most sense and she instills a lot of chaos (even though both are kind of true).  But rather that she loves me for who I am and trusts me no matter how stupid some of the stuff I think of is!  She is the yang to my yin.  She is constant when I am erratic, energetic when I am lethargic, and steadfast when I waver.  We in the engineering world call such things “governors”.  They are devices that control things that if left unchecked can cause damage or break.  Your car has one.  Put your car in neutral and floor it.  Why doesn’t your engine blow up?  It’s because your engine’s governor said hey, you’re in neutral and don’t need to go so fast.  Kristin is like this for me.  She counteracts me not to the point of being overpowering but just enough to allow me to be who I am – to the best that I am.  Not controlling, but keeping me in under control enough to stay safe and happy. 

However….

Being without her does offer some perks…Such as…

I can put all the clothes in the dryer.

I can go to bed anytime I want i.e. early.

And…

I can open a bottle of wine and have it all to myself.

But there really is no substitution for her company so I will look forward to the day when I can once again have it!  If tonight you get to be with the one you love…consider yourself lucky and act the part.  Believe me, it beats the alternative.

 

IMHO

Okay…Ladies and Gentlemen…We have reached the final chapter.  This is probably the one that I will most enjoy.  This is where, after 6 months, I will write the good, the bad, and good (in that order) about the German culture.  I don’t think I will touch on everything because that could take some time.  But I will give you my overview. 

The good-

Germans are a very proud people, to the point of stubbornness.  They will tell you that Germans make the best cars, the best beer, and the best soccer teams in the world.  It might not be true, but I admire their love of country.  We in the US I think pretend to have love of country.    We say USA USA USA and then loathe domestic manufacturing like GM, FORD and Chrysler saying that foreign autos are superior with nothing other than perception to back it up.  

Germans have a very rich language and a very rich culture.  In a small geographical area they have many different subcultures that are very unique, even to a foreigner. 

Germans drive very safe and obey the rules of the road to a much greater extent than any other country that I have visited.

The bad –

Germans are not quite the free thinkers we are in the USA (not to be confused with less educated).  The best example I can give is this.   There is an American action movie.  A half hour into the action movie the lead character gets into serious trouble.  It’s a terrible trap.  But he or she improvises and makes a daring escape.  In the German film, the character was dumb for getting into the trap and once in it was doomed.  It’s a trap and there is no way out and the character dies.  The End.  I mean really, they need a little more of Obama’s “Yes we can” in their lives.  They have way too much of it’s if it’s not in the rules or procedures, I can’t do anything. 

Germans are too subservient.  Germans treat those in authority with too much respect.  Authority should be respected but many Germans take it to the extreme.  I would bet you that if the FN city hall called MTU and said Brian must come over here and bark like a dog for his wife to come over, MTU would simply say okay and then call me on the phone and say “Brian, city hall said you must go over there and bark like a dog.  I’m sorry but they said that is what you must do.”  After being here I am down right proud of the decent we show to our leaders in the USA.   Although I think we really blew it when it came to W.  We needed a bit more there. 

Germans have no manners in lines.  They don’t even know the meaning of the word once in a line.  You a get a group of Germans together and tell them they have to go to a single point and they will treat that point like the velvet rope at Studio 54.  It will just be a mob with mob mentality.  It will be all pushing and shoving, (usually) without the obscenities. 

When a German wants something from you, they will first butter you up and disguise it with a nice dessert they bring over to you or an invitation to their house for a drink or some other out-of-character kindly gesture.

The good –

When Germans want something from you, they usually compensate you ahead of time with a very nice strudel or other treat from their own kitchen.   Perhaps even homemade Schnapps.  They just don’t expect you to do something out of the kindness of your own heart. 

Germans are very hardworking.  From the person working the counter at the bakery to the guy on the assembly line to the guy on the computer in my office.  With the exception of FN city hall, Germans are good workers.  During work hours, they do not talk politics, they do not talk to friends on the phone, and they do not look on Facebook every 5 minutes.  They work during work hours. 

Germans are reliable friends.  With few exceptions, when a German tells you they will do something, you have about a 98% chance that it will be done as told to you.

Germans are fun to party with.  Because of their more…how shall I call it…compressed nature, they will really let go when they begin to drink beyond the average.  Really, when Germans and Americans drink heavily together, they are really one in the same, proud people who love their country, work hard, and when having a drink or two, like do to so in loud fun manner with someone they would call a friend.

 

END

 

I am now off to load my skis in the car, finish my wine, and head to bed.  I will come back fairly regularly until my dear wife Kristin can once again discuss with you our little adventure here in Germany.  Until then, have a great weekend and if you see Kristin before I do, give her a hug!!

 

Stay Tuned!

Unfortunately I do not have time tonight to give the expansive details that you are used to seeing here on Kristin's blog so for the time being I would like to give you the subject matter (the chapters if you will) that I will address when I do have time, hopefully tomorrow night.  Of course, this is Brian (her loving husband) writing because Kristin is not the "Stranger in a Strange Land", she is in fact the "Familiar in a Familiar Land" at the moment staying with her parents in Baldwin MI.  So without further adieu, let's get to the topics of discussion.

1. Departure - Saying goodbye with no reunion date set.
2. Trip Back to Friedrichshafen - My Jason Bourne attempt to duck customs.
3. The New Digs - Oh What a Difference a Few Windows Make!
4. Kristin's Visa - A recap of what happened and what the F*CKING holdup is all about.
5. Life Sans Kristin - Living in Germany without my dear wife.
6. IMHO - Various observations of the German culture from my perspective.

I hope to get all 6 chapters done tomorrow before my ski date with Dominik on Saturday.  We are going to hit some of the slopes in Austria, which should be a good time.  It is doubly good because it will allow me an opportunity to check out which runs would be suitable for Kristin when she comes back.

STAY TUNED!!!

P.S. Here is some advance warning.  My writing is not entirely like Kristin's and it will contain some deeper material because I cannot help but probe people's actions and behavior, especially my own!!

Happy New Year!

Hey all! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year! Brian and I had a wonderful holiday! We really enjoyed spending time with our family and friends! Our time in the U.S. flew by very quickly!

As some of you may already know, Brian headed back to Germany last Saturday. I, on the other hand, am still in the United States (hence, the lack of posts recently... :)). Some of you are already aware of my current situation, but for those of you that haven't heard, I'm having an issue with my visa and I'm unable to return to Germany until all of the paperwork is figured out... Lovely. So, I'm still in the U.S. waiting to get a call from the Embassy in Chicago to let me know when I can fly back... And so I continue to wait...

Being that I'm currently not a "Stranger in a Strange Land", I haven't had much material to blog about recently. :) However, I don't want to keep all of you waiting until I return to Germany before I start blogging again, so Brian has generously agreed to blog every now and then in my absence. :) (Now, for all of you who know Brian, his blogs will most likely be in stark contrast to the blogs I tend to post... Don't be surprised if they require you to do some "deep thinking". :)

I promise to keep you all posted on my "visa situation", and once I return to Germany, I'll be back in business when it comes to blogging! :) Being that I'm still in the U.S., I'm hoping that I'll be able to see some of you while I'm still here... I hope all is going well for you!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!!

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!   I hope Santa brings you everything you wished for! :)  Enjoy spending time with your family and friends... I know I will! :)  Have a safe and happy holiday!!  

Home Sweet Home... Here We Come!!

Hey all!  Happy Wednesday to you!  We can't begin to tell you how excited we are to be coming home!  We can't wait to see our family, friends, and Riley! :)  We're all packed and ready to head out... We look forward to spending the next few weeks with all of you!  

Stay tuned for more posts from the U.S... We won't necessarily be "Strangers in a Strange Land", but life has definitely kept us on our toes recently, so we'll be sure to keep you updated about all of our random misadventures! :)  

Can't wait to see you!!

Losing Keys and Picking Locks... All in a Day's Work!

Hey!  Today has been quite a busy day... I've spent most of the day packing for our trip home, cleaning the old apartment from top to bottom, and moving things into our new apartment... Fun, fun!  We then met up with Maike and Norbert for dinner tonight... They wanted to get together before we headed back to the U.S. for the holidays.  We tried a new restaurant, called the Hacienda, which is located about a block away from our apartment... The food was delicious and the atmosphere was very fun and trendy! :)  Too bad we didn't find out about this place a while back... or at least before we decided to move to our new apartment! :) 

Last night was quite an eventful evening... to say the least!  After the gym, Brian and I headed back to the apartment.  As we pulled into the garage, we were chatting away about all of the things that we needed to get done before we came back to the U.S.  I stood outside of the garage and watched as Brian closed the garage door... Literally, the second the garage door shut and locked in place, Brian stared at me with a look of panic... When I asked him what was wrong, he responded with, "I just locked the keys to the apartment in the garage!"  Uh oh!!  We suddenly had a huge problem on our hands... My set of keys were locked inside our apartment, and Brian's set of keys were locked inside of the garage... Not a good situation to be in.  Especially when you're currently living in a foreign country!  

We stood there for a moment trying to assess the situation. We finally decided to see if we could get into our apartment building, find the man upstairs who speaks English, and see if he had any ideas as to how we could get into our apartment.  Now the problem with that was, being that we didn't have any keys on us, we couldn't even get into the front door of the apartment building... So, we decided to start hitting the buzzers of people living in the building, to see if they would "buzz" us in.   Now, this sounded great (and logical) to us at the time...At least, until we both realized that we couldn't communicate with the people if they used the intercom system to call down and ask us who we were before "buzzing" us into the building... yikes!  Well, the first person we "buzzed" didn't respond, so we tried the next person.  This time a woman called down to us on the intercom system.  She said "Hallo!" and then spoke something in German, which we didn't understand (of course!).  Brian and I stood there and stared at each other while trying to figure out what to say.  What felt like minutes, but was literally only seconds, passed by without either one of us saying anything.  In the meantime, this poor woman is saying "Hallo!  Hallo!" over and over into the intercom.  I finally decided to put my German lessons to good use, so I responded with "Ich spreche kein Duetsch.  Sprechen Sie Englisch?" (I don't speak German.  Do you speak English?)  The woman replied with a simple "Nein, nicht Englisch". (No, not English.)  Now being that we had this woman on the intercom, and realizing that she could potentially let us into the apartment complex, which would be one step closer to getting into our apartment, I responded with the only thing I could think of... I said, "We just need someone to buzz us in..."  and then, the teacher in me came out in full force, and to emphasize my point, I decided to make a long "buzzing" sound into the intercom... Lovely! 

Apparently, that did the trick though!  The woman quickly let us into the building... yay!  After getting into the building and being so excited about it, we then stopped and looked at each other and wondered, "Where do we go from here??"  Luckily, the lady who had buzzed us in, was one step ahead of us.  She went out and found Dieter, the man upstairs who speaks English.  He quickly came downstairs and we explained our situation to him, and asked him if anyone had a master key.  He, in turn, translated it to the woman who had buzzed us in.  This is where we learned, again, that they don't do things here quite like they would in the U.S.  In the U.S., there would be a local person in charge of the apartment complex, who had a set of master keys, which could be used in situations such as ours. However, they don't do that here.  The only two keys to the apartment are the ones we have, and the only other person who could potentially help, lives in Munich... a 3 hour car drive away... Ugh!  

So, after learning that, we decided to try Option #2.  While Deiter stayed inside and tried to break the lock on the apartment door, we followed the woman out into the garage and she let us into her garage, which is located 2 doors down from ours.   Now, the garage in between ours and the woman's was completely empty, and no one seemed to know who it belonged to.  At this point in time, Norbert had arrived to try to help, and all of us began tossing ideas back and forth (some of the ideas tossed around were: cutting part of the fence between her garage and the other garage, and then trying to shove me through into the other garage, or having me crawl through the small window in the garage on the other side of ours and then trying to maneuver my way into our garage, etc... You get the idea of how desperate we were at that point! :)).  After about an hour of standing outside in the cold and trying to figure out what to do,  we finally found a solution ...  We used a long broom handle and pushed it through the fencing of the woman's garage and into the vacant garage.  Brian then pushed a small lever and popped the lock, enabling the door to be opened.  We were then able to use the broom handle to push it through that fencing into our garage, and popped the lock to our garage.... Yippee!!  So, after about an hour and a half of total panic, we were finally able to retrieve the apartment keys from the garage! :)  Phew!!

After we retrieved the keys, we came back to the apartment, and found Deiter still diligently working on picking the lock to our apartment door...  He tried so hard to get us in there... It was very sweet!  And, the woman upstairs, was a great sport!  I honestly think that she really enjoyed being part of all the chaos... She was very eager to help!  And, even though we didn't speak the same language, we all managed to work together as a group to get the job done.  We definitely are very thankful to have such great neighbors!! 

After all of the craziness of the past few weeks, Brian and I are certainly looking forward to coming home to the U.S., and back to a little bit of normalcy! :)  We look forward to seeing you soon!  Miss you much!

The guilty culprits... :)  

This is how we finally retrieved our keys.  We popped the lock on the middle garage, and then pushed the broom through the fence to pop the lock in our garage...

 

A Ski Trip to Remember...

Hey all!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend!  Ours flew by very quickly!!  We spent all day Saturday packing things up and moving them into our new apartment... yay!  I don't know how many trips we made just driving things back and forth between the two apartments, which are conveniently on the opposite sides of town. :)  Either way, we're both pretty excited about moving into the new place... It's definitely a step up from where we're currently living! :)  

On Sunday, we decided to go skiing in the Alps.  We met up with our friend, Cornelius, and a couple of his friends early Sunday morning, and headed out for a fun-filled day of skiing... or so we thought! :)  Let's just say that it was a very memorable ski trip!!

Now, for those of you who know me and understand my skiing philosophy, you probably realize that I tend to ski down the easy level/medium level slopes... I like to ski at my own pace, and I'm definitely not a daredevil on skis!!  My sister, Stacy, and I were always the perfect skiing partners... We took our time skiing down the slopes, all the while chatting away, or laughing at each other when one of us just so happened to ski directly into a fence every now and then. :) After spending a few hours in the cold, we would always head up to the Lodge for some hot chocolate.  After spending some time getting warm, we would head back out into the cold for a couple more hours of skiing, after which point we would head back into the Lodge to warm up, and the cycle would continue throughout the day... It always made for a very fun day of skiing!  

Well, let's just say, that Sunday's ski trip was not so much like the ski trips I used to take with my sister... This time I went with four guys, three of whom have grown up skiing in the Alps, and Brian who has skied all over the place... Meanwhile, there's me, who likes to ski on the easy hills, at a very leisurely pace, and who has grown up skiing in Michigan... And, let's just say, the hills aren't quite so big in Michigan. :)  I was pretty nervous at the thought of trying to keep up with all the guys for the entire day!!  But, they promised me that they would find the easy slopes for me, and that they would stick with me...  

They kept their word for the first half of the day.  We found an easy slope and we pretty much stuck to it for the first few hours of the day... And, I was having a great time!!  After the first few runs, I became comfortable with the hill, and I felt pretty confident with my skiing... I was also getting acquainted with my new skis and how they handled... and I must admit, I'm quite pleased with them!  :)  Well, after a few hours of skiing the same slope, I realized that the guys didn't quite share my skiing philosophy with me...  The philosophy that after a couple of hours in the cold, you go in to the Lodge to drink hot chocolate and warm up, and then you head back out for another couple of hours... Well, we ended up skiing for almost 4 hours before they finally decided to stop for lunch! Yikes!!  And, of course, when I think of taking a break during skiing, I envision sitting in a lodge, in front of a fire, and warming myself back up... Apparently, that's not what they envisioned... Instead, we sat outside, on a picnic bench... So much for getting warm! :)  And getting something to eat proved to be rather interesting as well... There was a huge line, and the only menu they had was typed up in a very small font, directly in front of the cashier, and written all in German (of course!).  I noticed that potato soup was on the menu, so I got to the cashier and ordered potato soup... She looked at me strangely and then mumbled something back in German, to which I had no clue what she was saying, so I simply smiled and nodded... Not such a good move on my part!  I ended up getting Split Pea Soup... eeew!  Needless to say, the lunch experience was quite interesting!!

I'm not sure what caused it, but after lunch, the day went from being very fun to absolute chaos!!  After we finished lunch, we decided to head back out to the slopes.  At this point, I was feeling very chilly, seeing as how I didn't exactly get a chance to warm up at lunch!!  The guys wanted to ski once more down the slope we had been on all morning, and then they wanted to head to the other side of the mountain to see what slopes were over there... All the while, they claimed that there were easy slopes on that side too!  Wrong!!  When we finally got to the other side, we start heading down a run, which appeared to be quite easy at first, but once you turned the corner, it was quite a steep drop off!!  Yikes!!  Needless to say, I was definitely not confident in my abilities as a skier to be able to ski down that slope... So, I stood at the top, legs shaking, trying to figure out where to go from there... The problem was, that slope was the only way down... Not good at all!!  Now, this slope looked like a "black diamond" slope that would be found in Michigan, and we all know that I avoid those slopes at all costs (the guys originally told me that this was an "easy" hill, but we found out afterwards that this was considered a "difficult" hill)!!  As I stood at the top, looking down the slope, I just kept thinking about the fact that I was so close to coming home to the U.S. , and knowing my  luck, I would have tried to ski down, and then seriously injured myself, making it impossible to go home!  Thankfully, I didn't end up skiing down that slope... at least, not all the way.  Brian convinced me to walk halfway down, and then from there, we put our skis back on and skied the rest of the way down... 

At this point, I told the guys to go do their own thing, and I would go back to the easy slope from the morning.  But, they were determined to find me an easy slope.  So, we headed back up to another slope that they wanted to try... This time, instead of taking the gondola up, we had to take a "T-Bar" lift to the top... This apparently is another version of a chair lift, and it was my first time experiencing this type of lift, so I wasn't quite sure how it worked.  It's a bar that is shaped like an upside-down "T" that hangs from the cable above.   When it comes up behind you, the one portion hooks behind you (under your butt) and propels you along.  Now, you must hold onto the bar that is connected to the cable, and you can't sit on the bar as it's very narrow and doesn't hold your weight.  Meanwhile, your skis are on the ground... So, you're basically skiing up the hill and the bar, which is under your butt, is pushing you forward. And, as I found out the hard way, it's very important to keep your balance!!  It's definitely not a very comfortable way to get up the hill!  So, after my episode at the previous hill, all I wanted to do was get back to an easy slope.  So, Brian and I hope onto this "T-Bar" lift... He's on one side of the cross bar, and I'm on the other... We get about 20 feet out, my ski catches in the snow, and I fall off the thing.  Brian, on the other hand, proceeds to hang on to the bar and continues riding up.  So, I'm left to go back and try it again by myself... Which I did, and this time I managed to get a little farther out, before I completely fell again! Ugh!!  This time, being that I was farther up the hill, I had to side step my way back down the hill... Once I got back to the bottom of the hill, I attempted to try the lift for the third time.  This time, I got settled in pretty well, and after making it further than I had in my previous two attempts, I got quite excited!  That is, until my ski caught in the snow, yet again, and I flew off the lift!  This time was a bit scarier though.  I had tried to come up with a way to ride the lift without falling off, so I had attached both of my poles around my gloves and I was hanging on with both hands.  So, when I fell off, the bottom of the pole caught on the crossbar and it wouldn't let go.  I was basically being pulled by my wrist (as the poles were still connected to my glove) up the hill.  Let's just say that it wasn't a pretty site!  I was screaming and flailing about and trying to get my glove off... Finally, after being dragged about 20 feet, my glove finally flew off and the poles broke free of the crossbar. At that point, I scrambled to stand up and get out of the way of the rest of the people going up the lift, and as I stood up, I got beamed in the head with  "T-Bar" that had been coming up behind me... ouch!! 

So, I was basically standing there, trying to figure out if I should walk the rest of the way up the hill or if I should hike back down the hill for the third time.  Well, me being me, I ultimately tried to hike uphill,  but after 20 minutes of going nowhere, I finally gave up and headed back downhill!  The hike back down was not fun! Every step I took, I managed to posthole myself... meaning, everytime I took a step, I would step into waist deep snow... Not fun!  So, I would step down, get stuck in waist deep snow, dig/pull myself out, take another step, etc.... All the while trying to carry my skis and poles... ugh!  In the meantime, people were going up the lift and staring at/laughing at/pointing at/singing to me, and Brian was nowhere to be found... Needless to say, I was not a happy camper!  I did feel better at one point, when another guy fell off the lift, and he ended up walking down with me... It felt good to know that I wasn't the only one that did that! :)  So, after about 45 minutes of walking back down the hill, I finally got to the bottom, and found Brian.... and I immediately informed him that I was ready to go home... Unfortunately, I wasn't that lucky.  Brian then informed me that the only way to get out of that particular area of the mountain, I had to take 2-3 more "T-Bar" lifts... ugh!!  We managed to get up the next few lifts with no problems.  I then found an easy slope to ski down, and we headed back down the mountain.  Once we got to the bottom, we decided to call it a day... Thankfully! 

Overall, the first half of the day was extremely fun, and I'll just say that the second half of the day proved to be quite memorable! :)  On that note, I'm off to bed... I've basically written a book today! :)  I hope you're having a great Monday!  We look forward to seeing you soon!  I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from our "memorable" ski trip!! :)  Miss you much!

Sunset in the Alps... This was our view on the way home from our day of skiing! 

A view from the top of my favorite slope... very pretty! :)

Brian and I after the first run of the day...

Brian and Cornelius...

My new skis, poles, and boots... Aren't they cute?! :)  And they handle well too!!